Eureka’s sister tower withdrawn from sale

The owners of the Southbank Boulevard site in Melbourne, which has approval for a 108-storey tower, say it is no longer on the market. The syndicate behind the project, which includes
Nonda Katsalidis
of Fender Katsalidis Architects,
Benni Aroni
of Stralliance and the high-profile Valmorbida family, put the 2642-square-metre site on the market in July, citing equity pressures.

Plans for a 72-storey tower with more than 600 apartments were approved in mid-2010. The project was designed by Fender Katsalidis Architects, who also designed the nearby Eureka Tower, and was named “Encore" to reflect its sister building.

Late last year, new plans were submitted to allow for a hotel to be built on top of the project. It was renamed Australia 108 and will be 91 metres taller than Eureka Tower.

Mr Aroni said while there had been interest from Chinese buyers, the owners were determined to build it themselves. “Equity participation is a lot harder these days than when Eureka was built," he said.

Offshore investors could still come on as a financial partner. Mr Aroni said negotiations would be carried out once apartments began selling, potentially also with real estate trusts and super funds. “We were very half-hearted when we tried to sell the site; if someone had offered us a crazy price we may have accepted it. The architects have revised the apartment plan and setbacks, we want to attract more owner-occupiers in line with what we did with Eureka, while still making the project accessible," he said.

Hotel consultants Dransfield are working to secure an operator and Mr Aroni said there had been interest from major operators without sites in Melbourne.